Stay With Me
by radioactivealchemist
Summary: Kuro/Fai oneshot. Kurogane comforts Fai after he's been beaten and raped, and Fai realizes that Kurogane would do absolutely anything for him.


"Fai!" Kurogane rushed to his side, kneeling down to inspect the damage. Fai had been left on the floor, naked, beaten, and unconscious. Kurogane cast about for he wasn't sure what, then quickly unfastened his cloak and put it over Fai and scooped the battered blonde up in his arms.

Syaoran watched as Kurogane came back.

"Is..."

"Let's go back."

"Will Fai be okay?" Mokona asked plaintively from Syaoran's shoulder.

"We'll go back to the apartment and get him patched up. And then..." Kurogane's expression darkened. The man who'd done this would pay – dearly.

Syaoran bit his lip and said nothing, and fell into step behind Kurogane.

#

It wasn't until they were back home that Fai regained consciousness as Kurogane was taking care of him – but it was clear that he was still pretty out of it. Kurogane was carefully doctoring his cuts after having washed him up the best he could when Fai began whimpering; but he didn't think it was from pain. He stopped what he was doing to comfort Fai.

"Fai? Shh, it's okay. I'm here – it's me, Kurogane. You're safe now," he assured Fai as he held his hand. Fai's fingers tightened around his own in a white-knuckled death grip – painful, but not as much as if it had been his right hand.

Fai didn't seem to be able to make any coherent sounds, and the look in his eyes told Kurogane that his mind was currently elsewhere. Somewhere bad and frightening and painful. Not since Celes had he seen Fai in this much anguish. He wanted to stay there and comfort Fai until everything was all right again, but he knew he didn't have that luxury; the longer he waited, the harder it would be to find the bastard who'd done this.

Once Fai seemed to have calmed down a little bit and relaxed his grip on Kurogane's hand, he resumed his work. Only after he'd examined every inch of Fai, cleaned and bandaged all his cuts and tucked him securely under the covers while constantly whispering soothing assurances to him, did he think about getting up and going after the person who'd done this. But seeing the state Fai was in, he didn't think he could – or should – leave him alone like this.

When he stood up to put the first aid kit away and maybe get something to eat, Fai stopped him – reached out and grabbed his wrist and held it tightly. Kurogane turned, looked back down at him, and Fai looked up at him with pain in his eyes and whispered urgently, "_Stay._"

Kurogane stayed. He sat down on the edge of the bed and held Fai's hand in his left hand and stroked Fai's hair with his right.

Kurogane didn't know how long he sat there like that with Fai until there came a knock on the bedroom door. "Come in," he said quietly, because Fai seemed to be asleep now. The door opened and Syaoran poked his head in, with Mokona lurking worriedly at his feet.

"How is he?"

"I think he'll be all right after he rests... but I don't think he should be left alone. You'll have to make dinner tonight," Kurogane replied.

"Okay. I'll go get started on that, then."

"Mokona will help," Mokona added, still clinging to Syaoran's leg until Syaoran picked her up.

"I don't know if he'll want anything, but make enough for everybody," Kurogane told him; Syaoran nodded as he shut the door quietly and left them alone again. Kurogane looked down at Fai, but he seemed to still be asleep. Let him rest – but Kurogane didn't think that would be enough to fix this.

Some while later Syaoran knocked on the door again, and entered with their dinners. Even though he didn't want to, Kurogane gently tapped Fai's shoulder to wake him up. He had that look in his eyes again, for just a moment until he realized that he was safe and Kurogane was still there.

"Do you want something to eat?" Kurogane asked. Fai closed his eyes again and shook his head, no. "Just wrap it up and put it in the fridge," he told Syaoran, "He can eat it later."

"Right," Syaoran replied, and put Kurogane's plate on the end table where he could reach it, then left them alone again.

Still holding Fai's hand, he got up and shifted around the end of the bed so he could eat with the other.

"You're sure you don't want anything?" Kurogane asked when he was done eating.

"Water," Fai replied without opening his eyes.

"All right. But you have to let go of me, okay? I'll be right back," he said.

Fai opened his eyes without letting go of Kurogane's hand. "Promise?"

"Promise," Kurogane assured him. "I won't take more than a minute."

Reluctantly, Fai let go of his hand.

"Right back," Kurogane told him again, and picked up his plate. He left the bedroom, went straight to the kitchen – past Syaoran and Mokona, who were still at the table – put his plate in the sink and filled up a glass of water and went straight back without exchanging words with them.

Fai was waiting for him, propped up on one arm watching the doorway with scared look on his face like he thought Kurogane wouldn't return. Kurogane closed the door again and sat back down on the edge of the bed next to him, handed him the glass. Fai took it with one hand but his hand was shaking, so Kurogane kept a hold on it as he drank, his fingers over Fai's. When he finished and lay back down, Kurogane put the glass on the end table and took Fai's hand again.

"Stay," Fai said again, even though Kurogane hadn't made any move to get up. "Stay with me... tonight?"

"Sure," Kurogane replied without hesitation. If Fai needed him, he wouldn't leave – and who was to say whether the perpetrator knew where they were staying and might even come back for another round? Just the thought made Kurogane's blood boil.

It was getting late, and it had been a long day; and if he was going to go after this person tomorrow then he'd need his sleep. Under Fai's watchful gaze he undressed, turned off the light, and slipped into bed with him. Fai immediately clung to him, pressed himself close as Kurogane put his arm around him, comforting and protecting him so that he could fall asleep without worry.

#

In the morning, Fai wasn't much better. He stayed in bed, refusing to come out of his room, and Kurogane had to coax him into eating something for breakfast. Even if he didn't want Kurogane to leave his side, Kurogane had other plans. He waited until Fai had fallen asleep after lunch to speak with Syaoran and Mokona about it.

"What are we going to do?" Syaoran asked as Kurogane came out of Fai's room and closed the door behind him, but leaving it open just a crack.

"We're going to go find that bastard and make him pay," Kurogane responded with clenched fists. "I really don't want to leave him alone, but... there's no telling how powerful the guy that did this is. So Mokona – you stay here with Fai. You and I will go after him," he said to Syaoran.

"Mokona will do her best," Mokona agreed.

"He's asleep right now, so we should leave before he wakes up. And Mokona, try not to leave his side."

"Mokona will go right now and not leave Fai until Syaoran and Kurogane get back!" she said with a nod, and hopped off into Fai's room. Kurogane turned to Syaoran.

"Let's go."

#

Fai woke and, thinking he was alone, began to panic – until Mokona popped out from beneath his arm to greet him.

"Is Fai okay?" she asked as Fai patted her on the head.

"Where is...?"

"Syaoran and Kurogane went out to find the bad man," Mokona told Fai, and she pulled on her ears worriedly as Fai's face fell and he closed his eyes again. "What's wrong, Fai?"

"Nothing," he said as he shook his head. "He shouldn't have taken Syaoran with him."

"Why?" Mokona asked, but Fai didn't answer. After a few moments, she asked, "What did the bad man do to Fai?"

Fai flinched; he didn't want to recall it again. "Mokona doesn't need to know," he said quietly after a few moments, and picked her up and hugged her to his chest.

"It's okay. Kurogane will make everything better, right?"

"_Right_," Fai whispered as he stared at the ceiling, then closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep.

#

As soon as they returned and Kurogane had gotten cleaned up, he went straight back to Fai's side. Fai was awake again now – and none too happy that he'd been gone. Kurogane, however, was happy to see that he was sitting up in bed with Mokona on his lap, waiting for him. Mokona stayed long enough to receive a pat on the head and a "good job" from Kurogane, then bounced out of the room to bother Syaoran about what had happened. Kurogane closed the door and sat down with Fai.

"Why did you take Syaoran with you?" was the first question Fai asked him. Kurogane hadn't expected that – maybe a "where have you been?" or a "why did you leave me?", but not that. He understood where Fai was coming from, though.

"I didn't know who we were up against," he said honestly. "But it doesn't matter now. He'll never hurt you – or anybody – again." He sat down on the bed next to Fai and pulled him into his arms.

"He doesn't need to see something like that."

"He's been through enough to understand. He knows I'm not perfect. Nobody is."

Coming from Kurogane, Fai almost – _almost_ – had to smile at that comment, but he was still in too depressed of a mood. Instead he said nothing, and laid his head against Kurogane's shoulder.

They sat in silence for many minutes, until he asked, "Will you sleep with me again tonight? No – until we go to the next world?" he added quickly, revising his question.

"Sure," Kurogane agreed, again without any hesitation, and silence fell again – until it was interrupted by Kurogane's stomach growling.

"Go get something to eat," Fai told him.

"Do you want something too?"

"I guess."

"Will you come out and eat at the table?" Kurogane asked him; he wanted Fai to get out of bed, come out of his room.

"No."

Kurogane sighed, but didn't argue. "I'll be right back," he promised as he got up and left.

When he came back he found that Fai had at least found the will to come out from beneath the covers. They sat on the edge of the bed next to each other and ate in silence, and Kurogane took their plates back out to the kitchen when they were finished.

After he came back and sat down on the bed again, Fai crawled into his lap and curled up there, put his arms around Kurogane's neck, and Kurogane hugged him close. It was the least he could do, because he didn't know what else might make Fai feel better besides time to forget about it.

"If there's anything else I can do..." he said, letting his offer hang there, waiting for Fai to pick it up.

Fai looked up at him, to know that he meant it completely, then pressed the side of his face against Kurogane's chest. "If..." he took a deep breath. "If you could replace it, the bad with the good, then... maybe it would help a little."

"How?" Kurogane asked.

"If you would... kiss me."

"Okay," he agreed immediately, and reached up to gently cup the side of Fai's face in his hand as Fai turned his head to look up at him again. Their eyes met, then Kurogane lowered his as he kissed Fai on the mouth – simple and sweet, chaste but long enough to be more than 'just friendly'. "Better?" he murmured as he pulled away.

"Yes," Fai whispered back as he closed his eyes – and smiled.

#

As he lay in bed that night, Kurogane's arms around him, he thought about what Kurogane would have done if he'd asked for more than just a kiss. It did not take long to realize he already knew the answer: anything. Anything at all.


End file.
